The last two shows of the MSG '90 run were still being talked about in the lots for months afterward, as standouts from late '90 (along with 9/8). It's not as good as the terrific following night, but worth collecting for fans of the dual-keys era. The second set pre-Drums was released on Road Trips 2-1.

1st Set. A top-5 1st set of late '90. Jack Straw whips out of the gate already warmed up from the run with the new members on vox. Bertha has great audible contributions from all band members. Some heads list this as a best-of-version but, honestly, Vince hadn't gelled yet. Still, no question the band was inspired this night. On Me & My Uncle, Bobby remembers lyrics, doesn't ham, and dig the on-a-dime segue into a fine Big River. I recognize Hornsby's input more today than I did at the time. Check how he takes a few bars then passes some headroom to Vince (@3:15-3:20). Stuck Inside Mobile has too much organ in the mix (like all of this run). Help>Slip>Franklin's crackles and pops synapses and if there's a better '90 Slipknot!, I can't recall it OTTOMH! Solid set.

2nd Set. The opening sandwich looks good on paper but it takes half of the 2nd set to get the 1st-set energy back, with Bobby-flubs and flat Vince. Luckily, since it's a 107-minute set, it's not like they wrapped up and bowed out; no, they worked it back into shape. Hornsby eventually adds needed sparks on Grow. With a half hour of Jam>Drums>Space, by the time an uptempo version of GDtRFB appears, the reality snapback must have seemed like a new concert to the attendees. Phil liked the jam out of Let it Grow so much that he put it on the disc that came with his book (he titled it "Trio Jam"). Phil: "When Bruce joined for the '90 Fall tour, he came up with a really neat idea. He suggested that sometime during the show we break the band down into little sub-groups/trios and jam out with a smaller contingent and see where it would take us. So we tried to do that throughout Bruce's tenure and this jam here, from 1990, is a pristine example of what Bruce's idea was and how it worked out. It's mostly Bruce & Jerry, and Bob is backing them up, in essence, with some color, chords, and glad little cries from his guitar. It's really a neat little structure that happens. Bruce and Jerry start off with a quiet "filigree" and fade it down - and it comes back up and there's some shadowy byways into some light-drenched landscapes. And it ends up in a New Orleans parade stomp - just sort of keeps going & going, and they just keep tossing things around. About 8min 30sec into it they start trading licks hot and heavy and about a minute later you'll hear a brief structural thing surface, as opposed to the jam on a tonic, that you were hearing before, and then that fades down into Drums. This is a really wonderful example of that kind of spontaneous breakdown." The section he's referencing is :40-10:35 on Disc 1-Track 9 of Road Trips 2-1 OR :30-10:25 of Disc 2-Track 6 on the Miller source.

1st Set:  B
2nd Set: C
Overall: 3½ stars

Highlights:
Help on the Way>Slipknot!>Franklin's Tower - a '90 best
Drums - one of those house-shaking, frightening explorations
Post-Grow Jam - unique

SOURCES: Road Trip 2-1 has the lesser part of the second set (sacrificing to include the great-on-paper sandwich and add context to the Trio Jam) but doesn't include the superior 1st set, nor is it necessarily the best source. The miller_85003 is better (sounds like the boards from this run are board-matrices). Bobby is gone/low in places in the 1st set and Vince is too high in the mix, but a check of the AUDS suggests that front-of-house was the same. Searching for the Sound has part of the Let it Grow jam. The show vid is usually up on YouTube.

Because you can't listen to it here but this is my one and only show I snuck into unpaid. But I did indeed work hard to do it myself and 3 others climbed the scaffolding one the side as they were re-doing the arena that year. we werte so high up both ways we looked down and folks looked like ants . we banged on the door someone opened it we ran in and the guy was looking out to see how high we were. Not a story for my grandkids but then again us and them like apples and oranges. Ramblin sorry IMO easily best show of the Fall.

this is a pretty good show. sounds pretty good for having two new members in the group. every show from this run has some pretty good moments